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With Dredging of 6.5 Million Cubic Meters and Widening of 8 km of Beach, Project Promises to Transform the Santa Catarina Coast by 2026
One of the largest coastal infrastructure projects in the country began at 2 PM on Monday (20) in Itapoá, on the northern coast of Santa Catarina. The project, unprecedented in Brazil, provides for the dredging and deepening of the access channel to Babitonga Bay, as well as the widening of the beach’s sandy area.
The goal is to increase the navigation capacity of the region since the current channel limits the entry of large vessels.
With the project, the depth will increase from 14 to 16 meters, allowing ships up to 366 meters in length to dock at the ports of Itapoá and São Francisco do Sul.
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Dredging and Sand Relocation
A special dredger will be used in the process. It collects sand from the seabed and stores it in a tank with a capacity of 18,000 cubic meters.
The material is transported through pipelines to the beach, where it will be redistributed for the so-called “beach nourishment”.
In total, around 6.5 million cubic meters of sand will be removed from the bottom of Babitonga Bay.
The material will be reused to widen a stretch of eight kilometers of beach in Itapoá, which could gain up to 200 meters of sandy area in some points.
Billion-Dollar Investment and Unprecedented Partnership
The execution of the project will require an investment of R$ 333 million. The work is expected to be completed in the second semester of 2026.
The funding was made possible through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the ports of São Francisco do Sul and Itapoá.
The public port of São Francisco will contribute R$ 33 million, while the private terminal of Itapoá will be responsible for R$ 300 million.
Currently, the Port Complex of Babitonga Bay accounts for over 60% of the port activity in Santa Catarina by tonnage — a fact that reinforces the strategic importance of the new work for the state’s logistical development.
With information from CNN.
My son Captain Dietmar Delanghe, Master TSHD Galieleo Galilei, is leading the most advanced dredging vessel in the world performing this tremendous job deepening the Babitonga Bay and restoring coastlines. Congratualations Dietmar !